U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley runs into recession

One of the corporate villages has been scrapped, along with the Jumbotron that Mimi Griffin desperately wanted, both casualties of slimmer participation by corporate clients.

But this summer's U.S. Women's Open at Saucon Valley Country Club will thrive nonetheless because ''it is the right event at the right time,'' said Griffin, the tournament's executive director.

Furthermore, Griffin is sticking by her prediction that the event will sell the most tickets in Women's Open history.

''Regardless of where the economy is, we know what we're going to orchestrate here -- and on a shoestring budget,'' Griffin said in a recent interview at her offices at Saucon Valley. ''Just when you think things are darkest, it's amazing how people can rally because they know how important it is to the community.''

The U.S. Women's Open that will arrive at Saucon Valley on July 6 will be different from the one Saucon began planning in 2005, when the U.S. Golf Association awarded the event to the club.

Reductions in spending on corporate hospitality led to the closure of one of two planned tented villages. A Jumbotron video screen for public viewing didn't make the budget, and the tournament program has been changed from a magazine-size product to a smaller spectator guide.

''It's not about what we lost but what we haven't been able to sell because of the economy,'' Griffin said. ''We are right where a Women's Open normally is. For us to be where every other Women's Open has been, in this economic climate, is huge. But our hope was to blow it away so that we could have communicated a very clear message that the Lehigh Valley does this better than any area in the country.''

Calling herself the ''eternal optimist,'' Griffin said she still expects the tournament to ''smash'' the Women's Open attendance record of 131,400, set in 2005 at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver.

To reach that goal, the Women's Open will saturate the region with advertising over the next three months. Organizers will promote the event as affordable family entertainment, appealing to golf fans and nonfans alike.

Tournament week will include clinics featuring golfers, high-profile women athletes and celebrities such as ''Good Morning America'' host Robin Roberts. Children under 17 not only will get in free when accompanied by a paying adult, but also will have access to their own ''junior tent'' and front-row seating in every grandstand.

''This is a warm, fuzzy, family-friendly event,'' Griffin said. ''It is the right event at the right time.''

$250,000 state grant

Part of the advertising push will be financed by a $250,000 state grant, co-sponsored in the 2007 budget by state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Lehigh.

''We wanted to make sure we left no stone unturned,'' said Beyer, who joins Boscola on the tournament's executive advisory council. ''We want to make sure this event has the full economic impact we're hoping for. That could be as much as $30 million, depending on whether people out there are ready to spend money.''

Money, however, remains an issue. When they began working on the tournament in 2005, Griffin and her Bethlehem-based company MSG Promotions set a goal of doubling the corporate-hospitality revenue of any previous Women's Open.

By April 2007, nearly half of the initial inventory of 30 tents was sold, and plans were made to expand the villages. But last year, companies cut back such spending, and sales of hospitality tents slowed.

Now, Griffin said, the tournament has 17 confirmed tents, about half of what originally was planned. Those tents will be combined into one village on Saucon's Old Course.

''I think it's tough, especially for institutions appearing on lists of bailouts; they're definitely gun-shy,'' Beyer said. ''Even companies used to more lavish entertaining are still participating but doing it on a smaller scale tailored to them so it doesn't look like they're wasting money.''

Public perception

Griffin and Michael Stershic, president of the Lehigh Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, said public perception has been an influence. Media reports about corporate spending at recent PGA Tour events, and negative comments by politicians in their wake, have made companies even more leery of golf-tournament hospitality.

''I think the perception thing is stronger right now than any kind of financial viability issue,'' Griffin said. ''Financial viability took people away six months ago. Now it's all about perception.''

Because of that perception, Griffin said, local companies will lose business. The loss of one tented village means fewer tournament contracting, landscaping and catering jobs, most of which would have been handled by Lehigh Valley companies.

''The economic impact of this Women's Open on the area is huge,'' Griffin said. ''It's in the $10- to $12-million range, on a conservative basis. Shame on anybody who wants to make any kind of disparaging remark about a company participating to further corporate relationships. It's silly for anybody to look at this and say it's excessive.''

Marketing its affordability

Griffin said the marketing strategy will emphasize the tournament's affordability. Single-day ticket prices range from $10 on Monday to $45 on the weekend, and many regional groups are able to participate in a preferred pricing program that reduces prices up to 50 percent. Among those groups are chapters of the Girls Scouts and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, along with the 78 elementary schools participating in the Adopt-a-Player program.

In addition, MSG Promotions has begun marketing hospitality packages to colleges locally and nationally. Several schools have expressed interest in purchasing tickets to entertain alumni and donors.

''I don't think anybody is going to perceive that to be a bad thing,'' Griffin said.

Regarding attendance, Stershic said he expects the tournament to reach its goal of 25,000 per day on tournament days because of its geographical benefit: Nearly 30 million people live within a 100-mile radius of Saucon Valley.

''People still think of the Lehigh Valley as a rustic, steel area,'' Boscola said. ''With events like this, it's our chance to promote and showcase the assets of the area. Because it's a bad economic environment, you can't stop promotion and marketing.''